A Night to Remember
by amixdeuxgirl
Summary: Madge has loved Gale as long as she can remember. He hates her with a burning passion. Now she's at a Seam party and it's about to get steamy... Gadge, One-shot. Rated T for some sexual material.
1. Chapter 1

This is the story of the worst night of my life. (Well. Thus far).

Ever since Thom had started dating my best friend, Bristol, we'd become friends. He joked around with me a lot, ruffled my hair. God, he teased me so much. When he invited me to go to a Seam party though, I was so excited. Hah... Funny how you can think your luck is turning for the better, _finally, _and really it's just getting worse. Though of course, then I hadn't known it _could _get worse.

And of course Thom knew about my crush on his best friend Gale. Everyone with eyes could see that. Besides Gale, obviously. God he was ignorant. I have liked him ever since he started bringing me- oh, right. _My family, _strawberries. I stared at him in the halls... Kind of a stalker really. I just couldn't get him out of my head. I hated the way he treated me, the things he said. But somehow it made me love him too, I admired his fire.

Well, anyways, you can imagine how long it took me to get ready that night. _Should I go full on slutty? Keep it classy? Wear a dress? _It was a nightmare. Girls, you know what I mean. I finally settled on a tight (but not revealing) black shirt, with some high waisted shorts and some chucks. Not extremely slutty, but my dad still gave me 'the look' when he saw me leave. Y'know, the one that says 'You-don't-look-appropriate-but-I'm-letting-you-go -cause-you-need-to-interact-with-people'. I get that last bit from him a lot. It's not my fault people hate me because I'm the Mayor's daughter. And anyways, my piano doesn't judge me. I'm fine.

So I meet Thom and Bristol in the square and we head down to the Seam part of the meadow. As we walk up we can already hear the music. Folky and rough, it's new to me and I like it. As we get closer it gets darker and the bonfire in contrast is bright and cheery. There are people dancing around the fire and sitting on the logs that make a ring around the 'dance floor'. Bristol looks at me, non-verbally asking if I'll be okay if she dances with Thom and I nod; I was going to get a drink anyways. Speaking of which, there are a lot of tipsy people already. As I make my way over to the coolers, I get some dirty looks, but ignore them. I sit down on a log by the drinks with a can of beer and from my position I can see everything that's happening. I subconsciously look for Gale, and find him talking to some Seam guys on the opposite side of the circle. One of them motions at me and my eyes widen. Gale turns to me, scrunches up his face, and turns back. _Great. _I stay on my log and sip my beer. I don't want to get drunk, but tipsy will be okay. I'm gonna need it to face Gale and some of the other Seam kids.

I turn and look behind me when I hear rustling and I see Katniss and Peeta walking hand in hand towards me. We wave to each other and they sit on the log next to mine. I kind of give Katniss a questioning look, nodding my head to the dancers, silently asking _why aren't you dancing?_ She kind of shakes her head and grimaces, so I decide to let it go. I've seen Gale a total of 3 times now, each time he was drinking from a liquor bottle. I'm wondering how drunk he is when he comes up into my peripheral vision, standing, looking at me, and _holding out his hand. _I turn and give him an incredulous look and he rolls his eyes, sets down his bottle and pulls me up off the log.

"Let's see how well the little district Princess can dance!" He jeers, and a few people around him laugh.

I am seething. He's making fun of me, that _bastard. _Not that that's news or anything, but I'm already out of my element and I _really_ don't need it. So, of course, I make up my mind to show him _exactly _how well I can dance. And by well I mean slutty, because, let's be honest, his face would be priceless, and I want to relish in the fact that I'll make _him_ squirm for once. I smirk at him, and pull him to the dance floor. No doubt he expected me to run for the hills. Well. _Not this time. _

We get to the dance floor and I'm a bit shaky, thanks to the alcohol. I turn to face Gale and his grey eyes are stormy and dark. I smirk and start dancing, shaking my hips to the music. He stands there, and once I feel sufficiently awkward; me dancing, and him doing nothing, he steps close to me, our noses almost touching and his dark eyes boring into mine. My eyes widen and a let out a breath. He smirks and puts his hands on my hips, moving with me. _This is a dangerous game that we're playing. Who can affect the other person the most? _I finally gain back a bit of my confidence and put my arms around his neck and tug on his hair, swaying my hips the whole time. He grins, and pulls me closer. We do this for a while, our little battle of desire. He starts kissing my neck and the feel of his lips on my skin gets my heart racing. I completely forget about our game, my brain is fuzzy from the alcohol and his touch and I grab the front of his shirt with my hands and tilt my head back, giving him more access. Apparently this is synonymous with surrendering and he pulls his head back and whispers into my ear, "_I win." _

He grins at me, and I scowl. No, he is not getting away that easily. I tug on his hair and pull my body flush with his, standing on my tip-toes and peppering kisses on the underside of his jaw and along his jawline. After a bit of this he groans and now it's my turn to pull back and grin. But when I look into his eyes they're dark with lust and next thing I know he's dragging me off the dance floor and into the little grove of trees a few yards away. He pushes me up against on of them with his body, his arms trapping me there. He then kisses me, and it's like my whole head is filled with fireworks. It sounds cheesy, but that kiss _rocked me to the core._ I kissed him back of course, very enthusiastically. I remember thinking to myself, "_Holy shit, Gale Hawthorne is kissing me. ME. Right now!" _Well and then all of my thoughts disappeared with the entrance of his tongue in my mouth. Our tongues danced around each other, battling for dominance. God, he was a good kisser. He hooked my leg around him and I could feel... _Wow. _I guess I affected him a lot more than I thought. The feeling of his erection on the inside of my thigh kind of woke me up though. I remembered that I was tipsy. I also remembered that he was drunk. And that I loved him, and _shit _I didn't want it to happen like this. I wanted him to kiss me like this because he liked me, not because his hate for me fueled some kind of crazy sexual desire. I wanted it to be real so badly that it _hurt _and I just couldn't let him keep ravaging my mouth, even though God knows I wanted to. I wanted to just forget about the fact that he was drunk, and that he hated me and that I loved him. But I couldn't. And so I pulled away and pushed his chest away from me with one hand. My leg settled back down on the ground. He looked at me so adorably confused that I almost gave in again. His hair was messed up because of my frantic hands. His lips were red and his eyes were such a dark grey, it was mesmerizing. I let out a shuddering breath, gathered up all my courage, and prepared my heart to break.

"You're only kissing me because you're drunk." I say. It hurts. Saying it out loud, like it's a fact, hurts like a thousand knives cutting into me.

He looks confused, and a little angry, but I attribute that to the fact that he's just realized he's not getting any tonight. And no matter how much a love him I can't do that to myself.

His silence is all the answer I need and I jerk my head into a nod, straightening my shirt and shakily tucking some of my blonde hair behind my ear. I push past him and make my way back to the party. He doesn't stop me, and my heart shatters as I walk. My eyes search and I find Bristol and Thom by the drinks, laughing. When I come up they fall silent, and I finally feel the tear that's been leaking out of my eye. I hug myself, and Bristol nods to Thom, a silent permission for him to take me home. I look at them gratefully, and he wraps and arm around my shoulder and we walk.

I didn't see it, but apparently Bristol did. Right after we left Gale came out of the trees, running his hands through his hair with a pained expression on his face.

I can't believe her though. If I do, it'll just break my heart all over again.


	2. Chapter 2

Thom has kept quiet the whole way home. He's an angel, I'm sure he's burning with questions but he's holding back. He walk slowly, his arm around my shoulders, giving me the comfort of what I imagine an older brother would give a younger sister. We eventually reach the white picket fence around my house and I turn to Thom. He squeezes my shoulders and tells me to 'Take it easy, we're here for you.' I nod, hug my arms to myself and slip inside the back door. Trudging up the stairs I recall his touch, his taste, his smell and all the feelings rush in anew. I struggle to hold it together until I get to my room. When I do I just grab a pillow and sob into it. The self-loathing comes in, the questions. _How could you let yourself go like that? Why am I not good enough? Why do I love him? _I know why, God I know why. I'm just so disappointed in myself that I still love him, still, after all the shit I've gone through with him. He's made fun of me, scorned me, looked at me like the dirt on his shoes and _I still love him_.

When I'm all cried out I stand and look in the gilded mirror on my wall across from my bed. My makeup I smeared, my hair is disheveled and I have never felt so ugly. This of course brings another wave of tears and I brace myself against the vanity. I hurridly, angrily wipe off my makeup, my hair goes from rebellious waves to a messy, half hearted bun on top of my head. I slip on my comfiest pajamas and slide in bed, hugging my pillow to me and wishing away the world.

I wake up the next morning, dizzy and disoriented. Then it all comes rushing back, a tidal wave of feelings that I am just not awake enough to deal with. I slip on a robe and slippers and go downstairs, asking Marie our housekeeper to make the most soothing tea and comforting food we've got. This day is going to be quite the challenge. Thank goodness my mother is having a good spell today because I _need_ my music. I sit at the piano and rifle through the papers, finding my most melancholy piece. It sounds to me like someone crying out, someone at the end of their rope. Me, because I am just so done with this damn unrequited love, I am so done. I play it with as much feeling as I can, as if bottling them up in this piece could keep me from it forever. I spend the rest of the day in the library, my favorite place to be. Overcome with nostalgia, I read all of my favorite books one after the other, only stopping when Marie brings food in for me.

The tray has plenty of chocolate. I ask her how she knows, and she says,

"I know heartbreak when I see it. Now I'm not going to ask questions, because I probably don't want to know, but tell me what you need and I'll get it for you."

My heart swells for Marie, this woman from the Seam, who owes me nothing. She works for my family, not me. She doesn't have to go out of her way at all for me, in fact, she should hate me more than anyone; being this close to the Mayor's wealth every day. My chin quivers and she squeezes my shoulder, telling me that she's going to whip me up a 'family remedy'.

I wait and she comes in a few minutes later with a cup of the sweetest tea I've ever tasted. She kisses my forehead and tells me that she's off for the night, leaving me with my books and my thoughts.

Monday comes too quickly and I'm dreading it. My walk to school is spent bracing myself for catching sight of Gale and schooling myself into what is hopefully an indifferent expression. I get to my locker and see Bristol out of the corner of my eye, walking purposefully towards me.

She hugs me and asks, "Are you okay, sweetie? What happened?"

We walk to our first period class together and I regale the whole story, wincing all the while. She puts a comforting hand on my shoulder and I take it as "Yeah, he doesn't like you that way", and it stings, but I find that I feel a bit stronger. I feel like her acceptance of this fact means that maybe I can accept it too, that I can finally get some closure.


	3. Chapter 3

Holy crap I was not at all expecting as many reviews as I got you guys are such sweethearts! Xoxo

Sorry if there are typos, I got no beta and I wanted to get this up asap.

I see Gale and Thom in the hallway between third and fourth period. Thom gives me a wave and a half smile, while Gale ignores me. I'm sure my look is questioning, but his face is cold and closed off, and he shoulders past me without looking me in the eye. I can feel the tears coming on, so I do what Marie always tells me, and gather up the sadness and take a huge gulp of air and swallow them down. I quickly distract myself when I see Bristol, asking her about the homework, though I could really care less. I know she saw Gale, but she takes the hint and keeps quiet.

Lunch might be a bit of a problem. See, I usually sit with Katniss, Peeta, AND Gale. The boys had bonded over something over the summer, I think they fixed something together, so they've been cool with each other for a while. When I get to the lunchroom, I see that I shouldn't have even worried because Gale has chosen to sit with Bristol and Thom today. I sigh and put down my tray, my peas spilling onto the rest of my food. We talk while we eat, and Katniss somehow senses that I need a distraction because she asks Peeta to explain to us how to bake bread (Which, you know Peeta, turned into a tirade over how Rye can't mix the dough properly to save his life, blah blah blah).

When the school day is finally over, I step out into the blinding sun and move in the direction of the Victor's Village. I haven't talked to Haymitch in a long while, and even though he is crass and rude, he is a family friend. Before my mother fell ill, Haymitch would come over all the time to talk to her. She always told me to respect him, even with his drunkenness.

It has gotten warmer since this morning and so I shrug off my cardigan, hurrying up the walkway to his house. I walk in without knocking; years of doing it has taught him to expect this of me.

I find Haymitch passed out on the kitchen table, a bottle of liquor in one hand and a knife in the other. I quickly slip the knife from his hand and take the bottle. I fill it up with water and pour it onto his head. (Best way to wake him, I've learned). He flails his arms, making slashing motions even without the knife.

"Oh it's you, brat." he slurs. The name calling of course doesn't faze me, I've heard a lot worse from him.

"You're getting rusty." I say, "I slipped that knife right out of your hand."

"Yeah well." he says, "I haven't had much time to practice. Been conked out because of that little bastard." He points to the bottle I'm holding, squinting at it as if it will reveal the answers to the universe or something.

"Go shower." I say, ushering him towards the stairs. "I can't talk to you when you smell that bad."

He sticks his tongue out and I roll my eyes.

"Alright, _princess, _I'll go." he says sarcastically.

Once he's out of sight I go about cleaning up his mess. There are at least a dozen plates unwashed in the sink, and 5 bottles just laying around.

"He is such a pig." I mutter to myself, getting to work.

When Haymitch comes downstairs, washed and sober, I have the kitchen all cleaned up and in order.

"So what d'you need to talk to me about, Princess?" he asks. We make our way to the living room, which is thankfully not as messy as the kitchen was.

"Sorry" he says sarcastically, "I don't have any tea and biscuits out. I wasn't expecting company." he grumbles.

I roll my eyes and sigh. "It's about Gale." I say. Oh, Haymitch might be rough on the outside, but he's good with boy troubles. I've told him allllll about Gale Hawthorne.

Now it's Haymitch's turn to roll his eyes.

"Sweet Jesus, woman. How many times are you going to come to me with your boy troubles?" he grumbles.

I laugh, and say, "As long as I have boy troubles."

He sighs. "Let's hear it then."

I tell him all about that night, well. Except for a few steamier parts.

He leans over and rubs his hands on his face, sighing.

"Madgie. He likes you."

I am blindsided. He chuckles at my wide eyes.

"Hah, no. Haymitch I think you're wrong this time. He ignored me. He was cold to me today, and he only did what he did because he was drunk, did you not hear that part?"

"Oh, whenever someone says 'drunk' I hear it, believe me." He says darkly, "But I'm right. Think about it. When someone's drunk, inhibitions leave. They get courage to do things that they _never would have __done __before."_

I shake my head and open my mouth, about to retort. He holds a hand up to stop me.

"No. I've said my piece. You're going now, 'cause I've got stuff to do and I don't want some annoying brat around."

I glare at him for a bit, showing him how much I do not appreciate his choice of words. Finally, I hold my hands up in surrender. "Fine, Haymitch, I'm going. Stay away from those bottles."

"Yeah, yeah." he answers, waving me away.

As I walk through the doorway, he shouts, "Just think about it!"

I shake my head and keep walking, trying to squash the hope that Haymitch put inside me.

_This is not what I needed. I need closure, that talk did not help at all._

I sigh, and make up my mind to make some tea when I get home after I check on mother.

_ Note to self: Don't ever ask Haymitch for advice again._


End file.
